Wire display rack



Dec. 7, 1965 w RHODES ETAL 3,221,895

WIRE DISPLAY RACK Filed May 20, 1965 INVENTORS WILLIAM RHODES JOSEPH R. FORREST ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,221,895 WIRE DlSPLAY RACK William David Rhodes and Joseph Raymond Forrest, (Ihicago, Ill., assignors to Production Metal Products Company, Inc, Chicago, Ill.

Filed May 26, 1963, Ser. No. 281,664 Claims. (Cl. 211-148) This application relates to the merchandising of commodities and to apparatus for supporting and displaying such commodities in a manner to enhance the salability thereof and to increase their appeal to prospective customers.

The invention relates particularly to a flexible display rack of wire or rod stock or the like of a construction adjusta'bly to receive a plurality of baskets or shelves and a plurality of dividers so that commodities of varying sizes may be accommodated on the same rack.

Prior display racks for supporting commodities of various kinds have been fabricated of various materials and in various ways including wire or rod stock and with adjustable shelves. Such racks have not been entirely satisfactory because of their cost, their limitations of use, the difiiculty handling and adjusting, the large amount of space required, aS well as for other reasons.

It is an object of the invention to overcome the difficulties enumerated and to provide a simple inexpensive display rack of wire or rod stock, or other inexpensive material, as Well as a rack having a flexible or bendable back and holders in the form of shelves or baskets and with retainers or dividers, the shelves and retainers or dividers being adjustably, detachably and selectively applicable to the back or body of the device.

A further object of the invention is to provide a display rack of wire or rod stock having a flexible back or body with a plurality of shelves or ledges adjustably detachable and selectively disposed thereon in a manner to accommodate a maximum quantity of articles of varying sizes in a minimum of space and in a manner utilizing substantially all of the available space.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which;

FIG. 1 is a perspective illustrating one application of the invention;

FIG. 2, an enlarged fragmentary perspective of a portion of the structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3, an enlarged vertical section on the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4, an enlarged fragmentary detail perspective of the attaching means for the retainer or divider; and

FIG. 5, a fragmentary perspective of a modified form of shelf.

Briefly stated the invention is a display rack having a back or body of a series of spaced generally parallel longitudinal members and a series of spaced cross members with the longitudinal and cross members of wire or rod stock and the longitudinal members of suflicient slenderness to permit bending or flexing of the back or body. Shelves or baskets and retainers or partition members are adapted to be selectively attached to the back or body, which shelves and partition members have hook members adapted to be engaged over the cross members whereby the shelves and partition members may be disposed in the desired location.

With continued reference to the drawing the invention is a display rack including a back or body 10 having a plurality of generally parallel members 11 of wire or rod stock sufliciently slender that they can be flexed as by being bent or deformed if it is desired. Across the members 11 extending generally at right angles thereto a e a series of substantially rigid spaced cross members 12 of 3,221,895 Patented Dec. 7, 1965 wire or rod stock secured by welding 13 or otherwise attached to the members 11.

The spacing of the cross members 12 preferably is relatively close to allow for greater variation in the location of article holding shelves on the body of the device. Each shelf 16 likewise may be composed of wire or rod stock with a base member 14 of a length corresponding to the length of the cross members 12 and adapted to be disposed across said body parallel to such cross members.

To the base member 14 are secured by welding 15 a series of article supporting shelf members 16 and each article supporting member comprises a U-shaped member including a pair of spaced generally parallel legs 17 each having its free end connected to the base member 14 and its outer end connected by an upwardly extending curved or bight portion 18 to form a shelf flange or edging. The article supporting members are disposed in overlapping relation so that their bight portions are in contact where if desired they may be secured as by welding 19 to rigidfy the shelf as a whole. In order that the shelves may be mounted on the body 10 spaced hooks 20 are secured by welding 21 or otherwise to the base member 14. These hooks are adapted selectively to be disposed over and frictionally engage any adjacent pair of the cross members 12 and thereby to hold the shelves or baskets in fixed locations. The hook is of an elongation suflicient to enable a pair of cross members 12 to be received therewithin as illustrated particularly in FIGS. 2 and 3.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the shelves may be constructed of sheet material having an article supporting portion 16 with upwardly turned flanges 17' and 18. Spaced hooks Ztl are connected to the flange 17' and such books are adapted to be disposed over any of the cross members 12 as previously described.

To separate different stacks oharticles displayed on the shelves, a series of adjustably mounted dividers or retainers 22 are provided, also of wire or rod stock, Which can be selectively mounted on the body 10 in spaced relation. These may be used at the sides of the body to retain articles thereon or between the sides of the shelves to separate articles. Each of the retainers or dividers 22 is resiliently flexible and generally U-shaped with an intermediate or bight portion 23 slightly converging legs 24 terminating in outwardly disposed feet 25 secured by welding 26 or otherwise to hook forming clips 27. The clips on the opposite legs are in opposed relation to each other and have the opening of the hook portion disposed inwardly. A V-shaped brace 28 is welded or otherwise attached at its free ends to the legs 24 adjacent to the clips 27 and the central portion of such brace also functioning as divider means extends outwardly beyond the bight portion 23 and if desired may be welded or otherwise attached thereto.

The body 10 is adapted to be mounted on any suitable support such as a store fixture counter or base 29 having a panel or wall 30 having mounting strips or plates 31 with a plurality of openings 32 therein. The plates 31 are secured to the wall 30 in any desired manner as by screws or other fasteners 33. The body normally is constructed in standard widths in accordance with the spacing of conventional store fixtures and may be of any convenient length and cut to fit a particular installation.

In order to attach the body to the store fixtures, the longitudinal members 11 are severed along a selected cross member 12 and the outer most members are severed at a higher elevation leaving projections 34 extending upwardly above the topmost cross wire 12. The projections 34 are then bent substantially at a right angle and inserted within openings 32 in a mounting plate 31 at each side. The central portion of the frame or body 10 is then formed in a desired shape such as an arc and the bottom portion is detached at the desired length which normally extends to a position adjacent to the front of the counter 29. The lower end portions of the rods 11 may have downward portions 35 providing feet for freely engaging the counter and spacing the frame from such counter.

In the use of the device the body is made of any desired width and the upper portion thereof is mounted on the store fixtures. The central portion is formed in a desired shape which preferably is an are having a radius substantially at eye level of the average person so that all of the articles which will be displayed or visible can be readily seen and the lower portion of the body is adjusted to rest upon the front portion of the counter 29. One or more shelves are then mounted on the body by engaging the hook forming wires along any selected cross wire 12 and such shelves will be supported by the next lower cross wire in such a manner that the article supporting members 16 will extend outwardly substantially normal to the body 10. The shelves are placed on the body in accordance with the size and number of articles to be displayed in order to make the most efficient use of the available space. Dividers 22 are then placed at both ends of each of the shelves and if desired may be spaced between such ends to separate the articles carried by each of the shelves to assist in the maintaining of an attractive display. In order to mount the dividers on the frame one of the clips is placed about one of the cross wires 12 and the legs 24 are spread apart for the second clip to engage another cross wire and when the legs are released their inherent resiliency will cause the clips to firmly engage the cross wires and maintain such clips in position. Both the shelves and the dividers are selective in their location although they normally cooperate to maintain the articles in orderly display.

It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopethereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is illustrated in the drawing and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A display rack comprising a structure of generally parallel spaced flexible longitudinal members and generally parallel more closely spaced cross members of wire or rod stock, said longitudinal members being capable of being bent in order that the structure may be generally conformed to a support, means for mounting said structure on a support, shelf means for mounting objects for display on said structure, said shelf means including a base member, a series of members extending outwardly in spaced relation from said base member and having multiples of upwardly turned connected extremities disposed in overlapping relation, attaching means by which said shelf means can be attached in various locations along the length of said structure and including spaced hooks carried by said base member substantially at right angles to said outwardly extending members, said spaced hooks being selectively engageable with the cross wires of said structure, divider means cooperatively associated with said shelf and selectively attachable both lengthwise and transversely of said structure, said divider means having spaced portions, a pair of hook-forming clips mounted on said spaced portions, the openings of said clips being in opposed relation and selectively engageable with said spaced cross members, whereby said structure may be mounted on conventional store fixtures and suitably shaped to be received thereon and said shelf and divider means may be selectively located on said structure to accommodate objects to be displayed.

2. A display rack comprising a structure of generally parallel spaced flexible longitudinal members and generally parallel more closely spaced cross members disposed substantially at right angles to said members,

said longitudinal members being capable of being bent in order that the structure may be generally conformed to a support,

means for mounting said structure on a support,

shelf means for mounting objects for display on said structure,

said shelf means including a base member,

a series of members attached to and extending outwardly in spaced relation from said base member and having upwardly turned bight portions forming a flange-like structure,

attaching means by which said shelf means can be frictionally and releasably attached in various locations along the length of said structure substantially at right angles to said outwardly extending members,

said attaching means being selectively engageable with the cross members of said structure,

divider means cooperatively associated with said shelf means and selectively attachable both lengthwise and transversely of said structure,

said divider means having longitudinally spaced portions and an intermediate brace portion extending therebetween,

a pair of hook-forming clips mounted on said spaced portions,

whereby said structure may be mounted on conventional store fixtures and suitably shaped to be re ceived thereon and said shelf and divider means may be selectively located on said structure to accommodate objects to be displayed.

3. A display rack comprising a structure of generally parallel spaced flexible longitudinal members and generally parallel more closely spaced cross members disposed substantially at right angles to said members, means for mounting said structure at one end thereof on a support, said structure being deformable into any desired shape with the other end thereof adapted to be supported in an unsecured manner, shelf means for mounting objects for display on said structure, said shelf means including a base member, a series of U-shaped members secured to and extending outwardly in spaced relation from said base member and having overlapped and upwardly turned outward extremities, attaching means engageable with at least two adjacent cross members by which said shelf means can be frictionally attached and positioned in various locations along the length of said structure substantially at right angles to said outwardly extending members, divider means cooperatively associated with said shelf means and selectively attachable both lengthwise and transversely of said structure, whereby said structure may be mounted on conventional store fixtures and suitably shaped to be received thereon and said shelf and divider means may be selectively located on said structure relative to said shelf means to accommodate objects to be displayed.

4. A display rack for use with conventional fixtures and comprising a flexible frame including a series of generally parallel upright wire rods, a plurality of generally parallel cross :wires connected to said upright rods substantially at right angles thereto, said cross wires being spaced and relatively close together, means for attaching the upper ends of certain of said upright rods to a fixture, at least one shelf detachably mounted on said frame, said shelf comprising a base wire, a series of supporting members attached to said base wire for supporting articles to be displayed, a plurality of hook-forming attaching wires fixed to said base wire substantially at right angles to said supporting members, said hook-forming wires being selectively engageable with a plurality of adjacent cross wires of said frame to supportingly position said shelf thereon, at least one divider mounted on said frame independently of and in proximity with said shelf, said divider including a generally U-shaped member, rigidifying means extending between the arms of said U-shaped member, a hook-forming clip mounted on the free end of each arm of said U-shaped member, the openings of said clips being disposed to face toward each other and engageable with selected cross wires, whereby said frame may be mounted on conventional store fixtures and deformed to any desired configuration and said shelf and divider may be selectively placed in position on said frame in accordance with the size of the article to be displayed.

5. A display rack comprising a structure of generally parallel spaced bendable longitudinal members and generally parallel and more closely spaced cross members substantially at right angles to said bendable longitudinal members, means for mounting said structure on a support in a non-planar condition, shelf means for mounting objects on said structure, said shelf means comprising a plurality of members having upwardly turned extremities integrally connected serially and in overlapping relation With each other and attaching means on said shelf means disposed parallel to said upwardly turned extremities by which said shelf means can be secured to said structure selectively along the length thereof in generally parallel relation to said cross rods selectively, and elongated divider means separate from said shelf means including intermediate rigidifying means selectively attachable both lengthwise and transversely of said structure.

6. A display rack comprising a structure of generally parallel spaced bendable rods and generally parallel spaced cross rods attached transversely thereto, means at one of the ends of said structure forming the sole means by which it may be attached to a supporting structure, means at the other end of said structure for freely engaging a support, said structure being shaped for mounting on a supporting structure, and a shelf having downwardly facing U-shaped means frictionally and surroundingly engaging opposite sides of at least two of said cross rods by which it may be attached to said structure along the length thereof in generally parallel relation to said cross rods selectively.

7. A display rack comprising a structure of generally parallel spaced bendable rods and generally parallel spaced cross rods, means at one of the ends of said structure by which it may be attached to a supporting structure, a wire shelf, said wire shelf including a base wire, a plurality of parallel U-shaped wire members having upturned portions at one end thereof and the other ends of said U- shaped wire members being rigidly secured to said base wire, means for detachably mounting said shelf on said structure, a plurality of hook-forming attaching wires fixed to said shelf for frictionally and releasably attaching it at right angles to said first mentioned rods, said hook-forming wires being selectively engageable with adjacent cross rods of said structure and divider means selectively mounted on said structure in proximity to said shelf.

8. A bendable article displaying structure including a series of members of bendable wire or rod stock certain of which members are disposed lengthwise and others disposed crosswise of said structure, means whereby the structure may be mounted on a support and disposed in the desired shape, shelf means selectively attachable to the cross members along the length of structure, said shelf means including a series of Wire members positioned in a single plane adjacent each other, said wire members having intermediate overlapping curved portions bent at right angles thereto, a supporting member to which all of the ends of said wire members are attached, and means providing divider means to prevent lateral movement of articles on said shelf means.

9. A display rack for supporting articles comprising a structure including a plurality of generally upright deformable rods, a series of generally parallel cross rods mounted on and secured to said rods whereby said structure may be deformed to any desired configuration, shelf means for detachable mounting on selected cross wires, said shelf including a base wire and a plurality of parallel U-shaped wires having upturned bight portions connected to said base wire, means mounted on said base wire for selectively connecting said shelf to a pair of adjacent cross wires of said structures, at least one divider detachably mounted on said structure in proximity to at least one of said shelves, said divider including a substantially U- shaped member and a base member interconnecting the arms of said U-shaped member, means on the free end of each arm of said U-shaped member for detachably engaging said structure, said shelf means being detachably mounted on said structure in accordance with the size of articles and said divider located in a position to separate articles on at least one of said shelf means.

10. A display rack for supporting articles comprising a structure including a plurality of longitudinal rods, a series of cross wires fixedly mounted on said rods at right angles thereto, said structure being shaped for mounting said structure on a conventional store fixture, means for mounting said structure thereon, one or more shelves detachably mounted on selected cross :wires, said shelf including a base wire, at least one article supporting member secured to said base wire, said supporting member being U-shaped and having parallel side arm members, a bight portion connecting said parallel side arm members turned upwardly at right angles thereto to form the front edge of said shelf, and means mounted on said base wire parallel to said front edge of said shelf for connecting said shelf to a pair of adjacent cross wires of said structure whereby said shelf may be detachably mounted on selected cross wires in accordance with the size of the articles for support thereby.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 158,686 1/1875 Crawford 211- 1,846,129 2/1932 Gibbs 21190 X 1,954,384 4/1934 Hurt 211-88 X 2,513,806 7/1950 Kennedy 211--104 2,53 8,958 1/1951 Augenfeld 211-90 X 2,635,763 4/1953 Notes 21186 2,746,609 5/1956 Welsh 211-106 X 2,936,077 5/ 1960 Carpenter 211126 FOREIGN PATENTS 767,165 1/1957 Great Britain.

860,813 2/ 1961 Great Britain.

861,645 2/196'1 Great Britain.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. FRANK L. ABBOTT, Examiner. 

5. A DISPLAY RACK COMPRISING A STRUCTURE OF GENERALLY PARALLEL SPACED BENDABLE LONGITUDINAL MEMBERS AND GENERALLY PARALLEL AND MORE CLOSELY SPACED CROSS MEMBERS SUBSTANTIALLY AT RIGHT ANGLES TO SAID BENDABLE LONGITUDINAL MEMBERS, MEANS FOR MOUNTING SAID STRUCTURE ON A SUPPORT IN A NON-PLANAR CONDITION, SHELF MEANS FOR MOUNTING OBJECTS ON SAID STRUCTURE, SAID SHELF MEANS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF MEMBERS HAVING UPWARDLY TURNED EXTREMITIES INTEGRALLY CONNECTED SERIALLY AND IN OVERLAPPING RELATION WITH EACH OTHER AND ATTACHING MEANS ON SAID SHELF MEANS DISPOSED PARALLEL TO SAID UPWARDLY TURNED EXTREMITIES BY WHICH SAID SHELF MEANS CAN BE SECURED TO SAID STRUCTURE RELECTIVELY ALONG THE LENGTH THEREOF IN GENERALLY PARALLEL SELATION TO SAID CROSS RODS SELECTIVELY, AND ELONGATED DIVIDER MEANS SEPARATE FROM SAID SHELF MEANS INCLUDING INTERMEDIATE RIGIDIFYING MEANS SELECTIVELY ATTACHABLE BOTH LENGTHWISE AND TRANSVERSELY OF SAID STRUCTURE. 